It's baking time! Time to pull out your Christmas apron and treat yourself, your friends and families to all of the delicious treats the holiday season brings. Quite often for people who don't bake regularly, baking powder and baking soda shuffle their way to the back of the cupboard to hide in the shadows until they are needed and searched for. If you have wondered whether or not the powder or soda you have are still good enough to do their jobs, here are two easy and quick ways to test them for effectiveness.
**Baking Powder, Mix a teaspoon of baking powder with a few tablespoons of warm water and the mixture should begin to bubble rapidly. If it does not, then the powder has reached a point where it needs to be replaced with fresh product.
**Baking Soda, Mix a teaspoon of baking soda with a few tablespoons of vinegar and the mixture should begin to bubble rapidly. If it does not, then the soda has reached a point where it needs to be replaced with fresh product.
These two quick ways to check the freshness of your baking products can also be fun experiments to share with your children to show chemical reactions in the two powders.
With it being the holiday season, many of us will be breaking out our baking pans for breads, cookies, cakes and pies....what better time than now to make sure your baking powder and baking soda are up to the task? Don't wait till the last minute when some wonderful baked item didn't rise the way you had hoped to know that you should have replaced one or the other or maybe even both. Test them ahead of time so you'll know if you should add them to your list of the other goodies you'll be stocking up on for all of your holiday treats.
I hope you find this Tuesday tip helpful : )
